It seems odd that we sometimes relate cold and snow with a spiritual condition. When I wrote these words it was snowing outside and the temperature was 14°. The wind was blowing strong enough to make it feel as if it were seven below. Children were home instead of at school, and the roads were uninviting. I felt like staying home and being lazy. I might not have even showered that day. Still, there was beauty in the swirling snowflakes and a quiet beauty in the solitude of the frigid winter air. The previously barren tree limbs were covered in white snowy icing, and the limbs swayed back and forth in time to the music of the low howling wind. I am reminded of wintery times of my life where all spiritual growth seemed to come to a standstill. The cold winds of solitude howled around me, and my limbs seemed numb to the touch of Divine light and warmth. During those days I find some of my greatest growth occurs. Not in the outward display of green leaves, or—in the spiritual realm—of spiritual service to others. Still, deep in my spiritual roots, I choose to use this time to connect on a deeper level with The Divine. I read more, pray, meditate, and contemplate more. I work on loving myself and on finding the divine connection, and I try to learn how to silence the ego. For some people the winter season is their favorite time of the year. I’m not saying it has to be everyone’s favorite, but I am saying that we can choose how we respond to the seeming cold and despair of winter—physical or spiritual—and make it a time of growth. A time for reflection. A time to let our roots go deeper and our hearts grow bigger.